Blood Is Thicker
by writingismysuperpower
Summary: [New Summary] Gaea is awakening. The demigods of Rome and Greece have already tested the bonds of their fellowship, but nothing could have prepared them for the challenges that lie ahead. With new crew members aboard the Argo II, saving the world is only possible if they're crazy enough to try. Luckily, demigods have never been in short supply of crazy.
1. Chapter 1

_*****NOTE*****_

_**If you read this, you need to read my one shot, **__**The Rest of the Story**__**, first. This picks exactly where that leaves off, give or take 5-10 minutes. **_

/

In retrospect, Reyna should have known better.

She'd been working with Octavian for years now; she definitely should have stopped to think before running below deck, basically leaving him in charge of her Romans, with no way for her to interfere if he tried to do something stupid.

But, as they say, hindsight is 20-20. So when Reyna followed the others topside, leaving Percy and Annabeth alone for the time being, and she spotted the suspiciously Roman-free sky, the implication hit her smack in the face.

She swore, loudly, and so profusely that Jason's ears turned red.

"Uh, is something-" started Frank, but she cut him off.

"Octavian." She said angrily, running to the rail and looking over the side. Sure enough, there were no signs of the eagles or their riders. "He's gone. They're all gone."

"Wait…so, you're stranded here?" Jason asked, looking surprised that even their augur would go that far.

"Basically, yes." She replied bitterly, not missing how Jason turned concerned eyes to his girlfriend.

"Well." She wasn't sure what to say. Piper looked like she was trying to swallow a softball, and Jason kept flicking his eyes back and forth between her and Reyna like he was waiting for some kind of nuclear explosion. "I guess I'm here for the time being. Do you know when you'll land next?"

"We won't."

She turned and looked in the direction of the new voice, spotting a scrawny figure up near the helm and control panel. His back was to them, his hands moving confidently over the plethora of knobs and dials, flipping switches and pulling levers with the ease of breathing. Still, Reyna would have recognized him anywhere, and when he finally turned to face them she reached for her sword without a moment's hesitation.

Leo Valdez sauntered down the steps, approaching them with a calm Reyna found maddening. If he noticed her weapon was drawn, he gave no sign of it.

"_You_," she hissed, not bothering with any name calling because one outburst of profanity was enough for one day. She suspected that if Jason's ears turned any redder they would spontaneously combust or something.

He looked at her, dead-even, and though she hated to admit it she was somewhat, on a _microscopic_ level, impressed that there was not even the smallest hint of fear in his eyes.

"Gaea is growing more powerful every day. If this ship touches down, there's every chance it won't get back up. Best-case scenario is we're delayed long enough in taking off that every monster within a thirty-mile radius comes and kills all of us. Until this war is over, flying and sailing are our only options."

Reyna blinked, taken aback by his logic, and despite herself she felt her grip on the sword handle loosen just a bit.

Coach Hedge, who had been until that point standing between Jason and Frank, unnoticed, mumbled, "If you ask me we should land anyway. Those ballistae are there for a _reason_, y'know."

"Coach." Jason warned, glancing around their circle. Reyna accidentally made eye-contact with him, and in her peripheral she saw Piper tense. Sheesh. She turned back to the problem at hand.

"Fine. Is there a way to drop me off at the next city?"

"We won't come across one of those for another day or so. If you want to take your chances alone, then we'll find a way to let you down. But the food's not bad, and you get used to Frank's snoring after a while."

Ah. That must be the famous Leo Valdez humor she'd heard so much about. All around the circle people were fighting smiles, and even Zhang gave the repair boy an easy shove.

Jason cleared his throat awkwardly. "Well, if that's that, I'm gonna go check on Percy and Annabeth. Reyna, we'll find someplace for you to sleep later."

Everyone scattered, obviously having things to do, leaving Reyna and Valdez standing several feet apart. Abruptly he turned and walked back to the control panel, and resumed his switch-flipping and dial-turning.

After a moment of thought she followed him, coming up behind him and standing awkwardly, not sure what she was doing or how to even begin_. Oh by the way I hate your guts to Tartarus and back because you allegedly went and got yourself 'possessed' and now I'm living in a moldy Super 8_ hardly seemed the best way to open this conversation.

She was saved the trouble by Percy coming on deck. He wasn't exactly steady, but his hand was firmly gripping Annabeth's, who looked worse than ever now that she was out in the sunlight. There was the same haunted look in her eyes that Reyna had seen in Percy's, but the daughter of Athena still smiled when she saw Reyna.

Reyna sheathed her sword, resolving to deal with Valdez later, and went back down the steps to greet her…friend? She wasn't sure what she could call Annabeth, but she wasn't an enemy. That was good enough for the time being.

"Hey," she nodded at Percy, who didn't let go of Annabeth's hand as they both moved to lean against the railing.

"Where are the others?" Annabeth asked, and Reyna felt her temper spike again.

"They left. Octavian probably convinced them you guys were putting me under a spell or something."

Percy grinned, the expression making his face look even more gaunt and hollow. "Sucks for Octavian, when you catch up to him."

Reyna made a sound somewhere between a laugh and a snort. "Yeah."

"What do you think he'll do, now that he's basically unsupervised?"

The question made her pause, since she hadn't really given it much thought, but it was only a moment later when a ball of dread settled low in her gut as she realized what Octavian's next course of action would be.

"Oh, gods…he'll attack Camp Half-Blood. I'm sure of it. He's been begging for war ever since Valdez bombed New Rome, and I'm the only thing that's stood in his way."

She swore again, marveling how she could have been so stupid. "You guys need to contact your camp. Tell them the Romans are coming. They have a week, maybe two if they're lucky, but once the Romans arrive it'll be full-scale war."

Percy's face was grim. "I guess we need to IM Chiron."

/

Chiron was teaching an archery class when his image appeared. It looked like a typical day at camp, all bright and sunshiney with satyrs playing their pipes to the strawberry plants, and pegasi flying around in the background. The whole scene made Jason's stomach clench with an unexpected surge of homesickness; he was a Roman by birth, but he'd found another home with the Greeks and Chiron.

The centaur turned in surprise, but an enormous smile appeared the moment he spotted Percy, who seemed anxious to get the _Yes-I'm-fine-no-really-I-don't-need-to-lay-down_ part of the conversation over with.

It seemed like they went through this often, which wasn't exactly surprising. Percy had probably had more near-death experiences than he cared to keep track of. Still, Chiron's concerned gaze flickered back and forth between Percy and Annabeth and then met Jason's behind them. It was easy to see the question lingering there: _what happened to them?_ but Jason shook his head slightly. _Not now. _As much as they all hated it, their friends couldn't be top priority.

Chiron took the news rather well, and assured them they would begin preparations for war immediately. "We will attempt to reason with the augur, and try to avoid bloodshed as long as possible. Is there any chance you can get here in time to prevent an attack?"

Percy shrugged. "Dunno. I mean, we still have to defeat Gaea. We'll try though. The last thing we need is another war to fight."

The centaur nodded soberly. "Very well. We will begin tightening the defenses, increasing the patrols. You all need to be on guard. You never know what you might find in those waters."

As if on cue, Jason heard Leo's shout from above them. It didn't sound good. "We'd better go", he said.

"Wait," Percy hesitated, then leaned forward. "Chiron, when you get a chance, could…do you think you could get a message to my mom? And Paul? Just that…that I'm alright. And that I'll be home as soon as I can."

Chiron nodded. "You have my word, Percy."

The guy's shoulders slumped in relief. "Thanks. See you soon."

He swiped one hand through the mist, and turned off the garden hose down in the pegasus stables. When he turned to face the rest of them, he shrugged again.

"My mom's not seen me since before Hera made the swap. She's…uh, she's been pretty worried."

No one said anything, and after a moment he pushed through them, still leading Annabeth by the hand. Jason turned and silently followed them upstairs and onto the main deck, wondering at the tightness in his chest.

Leo, apparently, had no time for emotions. He was frantic by the time they all joined him; his hands flew over the controls, whirling his Wii controller, and every so often his hair would burst into flames before he reached up and patted it out.

"Took you guys long enough," he growled, but didn't give anyone time to reply. Instead he pressed a button and a holographic image popped up, showing their ship moving through the air. They were only about a hundred feet or so above the water; with a quick swipe Leo zoomed the image out enough to reveal his concern.

Frank leaned in. "Lares of Rome…what _is_ that?"

"Dunno." Leo replied grimly, "But whatever it is, it's about three times the size of the _Argo II_. If it attacks we don't have much of a chance."

They all looked at the dark, massive shape moving around underneath the water's surface in the hologram. Percy moved to the railing, peering over the side and frowning in concentration.

"Can we just…fly higher? Will it be able to reach us?"

Reyna sounded a little more uncertain than normal, but Jason was glad she spoke up. She may not have the best conversation skills, but her brain was wired for tactile maneuvers and strategy. In some ways she was better than Annabeth at planning things, because Roman warfare had a way of blocking all possible escape routes. Her experience and methodical approach would be a huge asset.

Leo shook his head, however. "Sure, we could get out of range easily. But right now, this thing's not a threat."

Reyna cocked one eyebrow. "When, exactly, does it become a threat? When it swallows the ship whole?" Her voice dripped with sarcasm; Jason tried to step in, but Leo beat him to it.

"We can't risk making it mad," Leo fired back. "If we go full throttle to a higher altitude, it might jump for us and I have no idea how fast it moves. It becomes a threat when it does something threatening."

"Okay, genius, let me know how that works out for you –" Reyna's face was flushed, but suddenly Percy leaned over and clapped one hand over her mouth. She turned and gave him a look of pure acid, but he shook his head, raising his other hand to his own lips.

"Shh. Listen."

Jason strained his ears, trying to pick out what had Percy so on edge, and suddenly he heard it, a dull scraping sound, and the ship rocked violently just before the world exploded in water.

The creature shot up beside the ship, literally within arm's reach if you leaned over the rail a bit, and Jason had a moment to think, _oh, crap_, before the deck tilted and he fell backwards against the rail, his head knocking into solid wood so hard that he saw stars, and Piper crashed into him a moment later.

"_Ooof_," he grunted as he reached to steady her. He dimly saw Percy lash out with one arm, and a mass of water rose from the sea and formed a fist – a literal fist, with the fingers clenched and everything – that crashed into the monster's head with so much force that Jason winced. Still, the creature was hardly fazed, and he felt his heart drop when its beady eyes fixated on Hazel, who stood in the middle of the deck with her sword drawn. Frank had been sent flying into a pile of rope when the ship had rocked, and Reyna was busy trying to help him get untangled. Jason struggled to his feet, but his head was spinning and Piper was yelling but he couldn't make out a word she was saying, and he saw the monster rear back just before it crashed headfirst into the deck, exactly where Hazel stood.

Except it jolted to a stop halfway down, pausing in confusion. The rest of them seemed to realize what had just almost happened; Frank ripped his feet out of the ropes and ran for Hazel, practically tackling her as he stepped in front of her, but Jason squinted, not able to understand why the monster had stopped. It still hadn't moved, and when it straightened again he caught a whiff of scorched flesh and grinned.

"Hey, Fish-Face! Over here, you big ugly mutt!"

Leo stood on the quarterdeck, his arms aflame to the elbow. The monster turned to the noise, tilted its head as if to say, _You talking to me? _It moved closer, slowly, and Leo stood and waited with his blazing limbs like he did this every day.

"You want a fight, buddy? C'mere, I'll show you how Latinos take out the trash!"

Leo kept up his yelling, throwing Spanish curses and any insult that popped into his head (some of them were pretty creative, actually) when suddenly another voice joined his.

"Oy! Estúpido!" Reyna yelled, throwing a wadded-up ball of seaweed that went _splat_ against the monster's flank. It probably didn't even feel it, but her shouting got its attention.

Percy was next. ("You _dare_ call yourself a sea monster? I've seen clown fish at the zoo that scared me more!") Coach Hedge joined in ("Hey cupcake! You wanna piece of this?"), then Nico (_his_ insults made Hazel's eyes bug and she gasped "_Nico!"_ reproachfully) and soon they were all yelling and throwing things, confusing it as it tried to pick one person to go after.

Eventually, though, it had had enough. The monster roared, and came crashing down again, except this time Jason saw the fireball hit it squarely between the eyes and made it halt, leaning precariously over the deck as the rest of them looked back to the quarterdeck again. Leo had climbed one of the lines hanging from the sails, and as they watched he jumped, swinging like some kind of Spanish-speaking-mini-Tarzan, and landed on top of the monster's head.

The rest of them were standing in pure shock that he'd pulled it off, but the son of Hephaestus wasn't finished. He set his arms on fire, this time to the shoulder, and with a ferocious yell smacked his hands against the monster's skin.

Instantly the shrimpzilla roared and bellowed, thrashing wildly as he tried to buck Leo off. Leo's face screwed in concentration, and Jason knew he was sinking his fingers into the skin, trying to get a handhold so he could do more damage before releasing. For such a scrawny guy, he must have had a strong grip. Eventually he let go and started throwing fireballs the size of melons at the monster's skull, until the entire head was lit up like a smoke signal. The air was thick with smoke and the stench of burning flesh, but somehow over all of it Leo managed to find his voice.

"Annabeth, get us out of here! Higher!"

Annabeth lurched for the control panel, her hands moving furiously. Jason watched, his stomach in knots, as Leo kept throwing fireball after fireball at the monster's head.

Suddenly the creature seemed to remember that it was literally surrounded by water. It flung its entire body backward, diving into the ocean. Leo jumped at the last second, crashed into Coach Hedge near the stern, and sat up just in time to see the flaming sea monster send up a tidal wave that loomed over the main mast and threatened to crash down on them, taking them all under.

Percy thrust his hand out, forcing the wall of water to recede and fall back rather than on top of them, and Annabeth hit the last switch, rammed the throttle up all the way, and Jason got knocked off his feet by the force of the ship's sudden ascent. They shot straight up, the gravity pushing them all flat against the deck, and Annabeth suddenly pressed another button that brought them to a screeching halt.

Jason's head slammed into the deck. "Ouch."

Annabeth gave them all a sheepish look.

"Sorry. Leo's made some modifications since the last time I worked this thing."

"I hope by 'modifications' you really mean 'improvements'." Leo staggered to his feet and began inspecting his control panel. "And Festus is not a thing. He is the very _essence_ of the _Argo II_, the heart and soul of this quest. And he's very easily offended, so don't talk about him like that where he can hear you."

One side of Annabeth's mouth quirked up. "Duly noted, Repair Boy."

"Is everyone okay?" Percy asked, glancing around. Jason was still struggling to his feet; Piper helped him but she seemed to be fine. Reyna stood up with a grace that defied logic, given that they were all shouting insults and 'yo momma' jokes at a giant sea monster just moments earlier, and Frank lifted Hazel to her feet effortlessly. Nico came forward and gave his sister a careful look-over before turning to Frank, nodding in wordless thanks. Jason heard angry spluttering and bleating coming from behind him, and turned to help Coach Hedge out from underneath the folded canvas that had fallen on top of him.

"Seriously?"

Reyna's temper wasn't something you provoked if you could help it. Leo shrunk back from her anger, not that Jason could blame him.

"I'm sorry, really sorry," the son of Hephaestus said. "I should've gotten us up sooner, I know, but it was so risky and I didn't want to make it mad-"

"Making others mad seems to be a specialty of yours." Reyna snapped, and behind her Nico winced. Jason didn't blame him either.

Furiously Reyna sheathed her sword and turned to Jason. "Where's the head?"

"Uh…down the stairs, take a left, fifth door on the right."

Without another word she stormed off the deck, leaving eight stunned demigods and one grumpy satyr in her wake.

"Styx." Leo said.

/

The next morning Reyna woke, tired and grumpier than the day before. It didn't help that the only available sleeping space was on the main deck, and her back now had more knots than the boards she'd slept on.

She grunted as she stretched, standing up and shaking the stiffness from her limbs. After a careful glance around her, she moved to the quarter deck and stretched her aching muscles properly, even pausing to do some yoga poses.

She let her arms and legs do the familiar motions, stretching and fluidly shifting from one pose to the next. After a few minutes she again made sure she was alone, before going into a standing split, sighing as she felt her leg muscles uncramp. It felt so good, and she was so focused that she didn't hear anything until the coffee cup crashed on the deck.

Instantly her concentration was shattered, and she tumbled painfully to the deck.

She heard a Spanish curse and her stomach dropped as she looked to see Valdez standing in the middle of the deck, the shattered remains of a white coffee cup at his feet and looking positively horrified.

"I-I'm sorry, I didn't know-"

"Obviously." She replied coldly, though a little voice in her head reminded her that this was _his_ ship, after all, and he was well within his rights to come and go as he pleased. She sighed, swallowed the bitter pill and purposefully spoke in a voice she reserved for the younger recruits at camp – polite (pleasant even) but all business.

"It's…um, it's okay. I don't think you were, you know, expecting to see someone doing sunrise yoga when you came up the stairs."

"Oh. Is that what that was? Because I thought you were doing one of those weird meditation things where you go into a trance."

Did he realize he rambled when he got nervous? Or mortally afraid of somebody?

"Uh…no, I was just stretching. You know, stiff muscles and all. No good in a monster fight."

He frowned a bit at that, as though wondering why her muscles would be sore, when he spotted her pile of blankets on the deck. His jaw dropped.

"No way. Please tell me Jason didn't make you sleep up here last night."

One of her eyebrows rose in question. Chivalry, eh?

"No, he didn't make me. This was just the…ah, better option."

"Are you kidding? There's nowhere else?"

"Well, yeah, but it happens to be floor of Piper's cabin and I don't think that's a good idea."

He blinked. "Oh. Oh…well, yeah, probably not."

For a moment he stood there, lost in thought, until a creak from Festus snapped him to. "Oh! Right. So, um, if you want to continue your, um, yoga, you can, it's totally fine, you can just ignore me and I won't watch, I swear. But if you're hungry there's breakfast down in the mess hall. The others are awake."

Awkwardly she came to her feet. "Okay. I'll go there, then."

She scurried down the stairs and left him staring after her.

/

Piper spoke English, French, and Ancient Greek fluently (Okay, fine, the Greek was more along the lines of fluent-_ish_), and she still could not put into words how Reyna's presence made her feel. Had you asked her two weeks ago, or even yesterday afternoon, she would have said that the farther way the gorgeous Roman girl was, the better. Now, she wasn't so sure.

For one thing, wouldn't it be a good idea to resolve petty arguments before they saved the world? Holding a grudge couldn't possibly help them work as a team. And for another, she had a niggly feeling that Reyna was here for a reason. And that reason wasn't to steal Jason.

Speaking of, the poor guy had been worried all through supper last night that she would be upset. He'd told her countless times that Reyna was just a friend, which was nice and all, but she could also tell he felt guilty about Reyna's end of the bargain too. They hadn't dated before the swap, but Piper knew it would have happened if things had turned out differently. She felt bad too, in a way, but there wasn't exactly anything she could do about it now.

So the real question was, how to let Reyna know she was okay with her and Jason's friendship, without making Jason feel she was pushing him away?

Her musings were cut short when Reyna came in; she hesitated, glancing around their cozy little circle, clearly at a loss as to where to sit. Annabeth came to the rescue.

"There's waffles and stuff over on the sideboard. Everyone just kind of fends for themselves."

Reyna shot her a grateful half-smile and crossed the room, returning with a bowl of yogurt topped with granola and fresh fruit. She slid into the chair next to Annabeth, picked up her spoon and dug in, either oblivious to or ignoring the sneaky glances they were all giving her.

Reyna hadn't taken more than five bites when heavy footsteps came thundering down the hall. Leo burst into the room, panting. "Percy, you gotta come see this."

Above deck, all was calm in the sunshine. Yet Leo's every movement was agitated, and he reached for the controls as Festus whirred and clicked excitedly in the background.

"There's something in the water." Leo said, and Percy's brows shot up.

"Another monster?"

"Nah. Not big enough. But…Festus is getting worked up about it. Not worried, but excited. Almost like it's good news. But the ocean's your field, man. Your call."

Percy chewed his lip for a moment, then nodded slowly. "Take us down. I'll have a look."

Leo got to work, and the ship began a steady descent back to the ocean. When they broke through the clouds and saw the sparkling blue waters below, all of them except Leo moved to the railing, straining to see anything out of the ordinary. At first all Reyna could see was water, but a tiny movement caught her eye and she squinted against the sun, trying to make out the blob far below.

"Percy…" Instantly he was at her side, peering over her shoulder. As they drew closer the shape became more distinguished, separating into three small figures bobbing in the waves. Reyna's heart nearly stopped.

"It's three girls. They're in the water."

Percy was vaulted himself over the side. Seconds later the hull splashed into the water, and Leo joined the others to watch the scene unfold.

Percy had already swum to where three girls huddled together on a poorly made raft; even from this distance it looked like it was piece of shipwreck rather than a sailing craft. As they all watched, Percy and the girls talked, then seemed to reach an agreement. He moved behind the raft, and began pushing it towards the _Argo II_. His powers over water allowed him to swim faster; it was mere moments before they drew up to the side of the ship.

Looking down at them, Reyna could now see that there were indeed three girls, all of various ages, and looking similar enough to be related. The oldest one was unconscious, with the younger two clinging to her limp form tighter than they were to the raft itself. Percy hauled himself onto the ladder that went down the side of the ship, and gestured with one arm; the youngest girl (she couldn't possibly be older than four years old) came hesitantly and he pulled her close. At the last second she reached for the other girl, who looked like she could be maybe ten or so, and Percy wordlessly scooped the two of them up together, climbing the ladder with one arm. He deposited his small bundles on the deck, and turned to Frank.

"Can you get the last one?"

Frank was back shortly, cradling the unconscious girl's form in his arms. Percy and Annabeth had handed the younger girls blankets, and the former was talking to them in a soothing, reassuring voice.

"My name's Percy. This is my girlfriend, Annabeth. We'll take care of you, okay? Can you tell us your names?"

The two children hesitated, but the older one piped up, "I'm Alex, and this is Molly."

"Those are nice names," Annabeth said softly, earning small smile from Molly.

"Are you hurt anywhere?" Two head shook negative. "Okay. That's good. Do you know the other girl's name?"

At that question, little Molly spoke up. "Danna."

"Danna?" echoed Percy, and Alex smiled.

"It's Danny, but Molly's learning. She's three."

Percy did a marvelous job of keeping the shock off his face, but Reyna almost wanted to cry. What was a three year old doing stranded out in the middle of the Mediterranean?

"How old are you, Alex?"

"Nine. Danny's fifteen."

"Are the three of you friends?"

"We're sisters. Our mom died."

The sad statement was met with silence. Too many of them knew what that felt like. Percy nodded, keeping eye contact from where he crouched down on their eye-level.

"What about your dad? Do you know where he is?" Something in his voice triggered a warning in Reyna's mind, like he already knew the answer to the question, but asked it anyway because he was half hoping he was wrong. Alex took a moment to answer, but she did everyone was shocked speechless.

"Our dad's Poseidon."

/

_**Ta-da! Here's my brand-spanking new PJO fic! This occurs shortly after the MOA, but I'm basically ignoring HOH because…well, because reasons, actually. Reasons that I'm sure you'll understand as this story progresses.**_

_**I'm trying to do a somewhat unique story here, though I do realize a lot of people have done the whole daughter-of-Poseidon thing. Hopefully this won't be a repeat for anybody. **_

_**Reviews are the bomb dot com. Please do leave one and let me know if you liked this or not!**_


	2. Chapter 2

"Okie doke, ladies, here you go." Leo set two plates, adorned with gooey PB&Js, Goldfish, and apple slices, in front of their new guests. Jason crossed over to the mini fridge under the sideboard and got out two juice boxes and put them within arm's reach of Alex.

As they'd expected, the nine year old immediately set her apple slice down and reached for the drinks, opening the straws and pushing them into the juice boxes efficiently. She gave one to Molly, who already had peanut butter all over her face, took a hearty sip out of the other, and returned to her lunch.

Jason wiped his hands on his jeans. "You two okay?"

Alex nodded, her mouth full, but Molly swallowed her bite of sandwich and announced, "I need tinkle."

He had not been expecting that particular curveball. He exchanged a frantic, wide-eyed glance with Leo. "Uh-"

"It's okay," Alex wiped her mouth and hopped down from her chair, turning to help her sister do the same. "I got it."

Partly relieved, partly skeptical – the kid was _nine,_ for Juno's sake – the two boys hesitantly followed them down the hall, noticing the way Alex held Molly's hand confidently. They weren't bold enough to stand outside the door and listen; instead they settled for leaning against the wall a few feet down the hallway, and there Percy found them a few minutes later.

The guy looked confused. "I thought you were fixing the girls lunch?"

Leo grinned. "We were. Then Alex had to take Molly to go tinkle."

"Oh." Percy looked as surprised by this as they had been. "Okay…are they eating okay?"

"Yeah. Not exactly pigging out, but they'll be fine."

For a moment Percy seemed content with this, but then he frowned in Leo's direction. "What?"

"Huh?" Leo looked lost in thought, an almost sad expression on his face, but he returned to the present abruptly. "Oh - nothing. They just remind me of some girls I was once in foster care with."

Jason's ears perked. He and Leo were best friends, sure, but he'd never heard him mention his years in foster care, other than the fact that he spent most of them on the run, sleeping under bridges and in back alleys. He'd never talked about the people.

Percy merely looked confused. "What do you mean?"

Leo hesitated, but said, "I don't know how they ended up in the middle of the ocean any more than you do. But I know what being on the run looks like. Those three girls, they're running from something or someone, and they don't have anybody but each other."

Jason was confused now too. "So you think they'll run from us too?"

Leo shrugged. "Depends."

Percy looked like he was about say something when a door opened further down the hall. Annabeth stepped out of the sick bay, followed by Piper and Hazel, and approached the three boys.

"How is she?" Percy wasted no time in asking.

"She hasn't woken up yet, but if she's as tired as she looks, then she needs the sleep," was Piper's answer. "There aren't any severe injuries as far as we can tell, so I gave her a little nectar just in case. She should be fine, but…well. I guess we'll see."

"Reyna's sitting with her now," added Hazel, then looked around at Jason and Leo. "Where are the other two?"

"Tinkling." Jason said with a grin, hooking one thumb over his shoulder to point at the bathroom.

"They've been in there a while, though," Percy commented, his brow furrowing. "Should we-"

"I'm sure they're fine, Seaweed Brain." Annabeth said. "Come on, I'm hungry."

/

Reyna wished she'd thought to bring a crossword puzzle. Sitting in a chair, watching someone sleep and waiting for them to wake up was hardly thrilling.

Still, it was better than sitting around a table and pretending that she liked everybody. An unconscious person might be boring, but at least they couldn't irritate her.

She sighed. Loud and annoying as the mess hall might be, it was where the food was, and her stomach protested loudly against the lack of input that day. Breakfast had been cut short when they'd found the three girls, and they'd been busy all morning taking care of them. She, along with Piper, Annabeth, and Hazel, had seen to the older one – _Danny_, she reminded herself, her name was Danny – while the boys handled the younger two. The thought was comical, but surely even Valdez could fix a decent sandwich for a three year old.

She decided she might as well get comfortable, and propped her feet up on the far corner of the bed, careful not to wrinkle the blanket with her sneakers. She settled in as relaxed as one could get in a plastic chair with no arm rests, and studied her patient briefly. Long, wavy black hair, much like Percy's in color. They all must get that from their father, since she remembered the younger two having the same hair. All three girls, however, had a slightly more olive-toned complexion than Percy; they shared the same classical Greek features, though the hard lines and angles of his face were softened and rounded on theirs. Alex and Percy both had the same sea-green eyes, while Molly's were a pale, soft blue. Reyna supposed Danny's eyes would be one or the other.

Her gaze shifted to the rest of Danny's form. Of course, they hadn't seen her standing up yet, but she looked very small on the mattress, almost frail. It didn't look like she'd had decent food in weeks, but Alex and Molly hadn't looked nearly so malnourished.

That made sense, she realized. Any food they'd managed to scrounge up would have gone straight to the younger two. The oldest would take care of her own needs last- as would any good sister. Reyna's brow furrowed in thought, noticing that there were remnants of bruises on the girl's forearms. Nothing too serious, but the presence of the bruising alone was concern enough. She leaned forward a bit, trying to get a better view of the other arm, and in doing so caught sight of something peeking out under the neckline of Danny's t-shirt.

She stood up and leaned over the bed cautiously as her curious fingers gently lifted the edge of the fabric. What she saw almost made her gasp; her eyes widened in shock and her throat clogged in fear of the memories that assaulted her.

Just a few inches below Danny's left collarbone, there was a small marking; an X-shaped cut, made with a very thin and very sharp blade and only dug into the first few layers of skin. It was just deep enough to scar permanently, and everything about it made Reyna's blood run cold.

"Oh my gods…" She said quietly, once again looking at Danny's face. There was no trace of nightmares or horror there, only exhaustion. She wondered if maybe she was jumping to conclusions; there could be more than one way to get a marking like that. But deep down, she knew, and she wondered how it was possible.

_The Sea of Monsters is on the other side of the world_, she thought desperately, and she was so lost in her thoughts that the knock on the door made her jump.

Frank stuck his head in. "You hungry? I can sit with her a while."

She needed to get away; the memories were all but choking her. "Yeah. Yeah, I am. Thanks." Wordlessly she stepped out into the hall, but her appetite was gone. She headed for the deck, where she found Percy leaning over the side and gazing over the water with a brooding expression on his face. He didn't turn to look at her when she joined him, resting her forearms on the rail and interweaving her fingers to keep them from trembling.

"How is she?" He asked quietly, and Reyna paused. Should she tell him? Gods knew if she'd had an older brother all those years ago, he certainly would have wanted to know. It had been different with Hylla, but now that Reyna's own scars had healed with the passing of time, she remembered the shame that had followed her for months. She hadn't wanted to tell anyone, and for the most part she still felt that way. It was only fair to let Danny tell them herself, when she was ready. _If_ she ever would be ready.

"Sleeping hard. It'll probably be a while before she wakes up. And then she'll need to eat."

A moment of silence as Percy absorbed the information, and she prompted, "How are the other two?"

"As well as can be expected, I guess. They're awfully quiet, and they watch me like a hawk whenever I'm around, but as far as I can tell they're not scared of me. Probably just overwhelmed."

That made sense, she decided. Her pulse was slowly returning to its normal rate, but jumped again when an almighty crash sounded from below them, followed by shouting that Reyna recognized as Frank's.

She and Percy both headed for the stairs, but they hadn't even made it halfway across the deck before Frank was shoved through it, landing hard on his knees before them, swearing and struggling against the arm locked around his neck.

Danny stood behind him, holding him in a tight headlock with what appeared to be minimal effort. Her vibrantly blue eyes flashed murderously, and her grip tightened as she spat, "Πού είναι οι αδερφές μου?"

"Huh?" Percy muttered, and Reyna shot him a look. Wasn't _that_ helpful. No wonder Annabeth called him Seaweed Brain.

"Where are my sisters?" Danny repeated in lightly accented English. "Two girls, they look just like me, they were with me when I passed out. _Where are they?"_

"Look, just-just calm down, okay? I promise, they're – " Percy stopped short when Danny released Frank, knocked him out cold with one swift blow to the back of his head, and took two steps toward Reyna.

Percy suddenly lashed out his arm in an upper-cut, and Reyna stumbled backward when a mass of water slammed into Danny, forcing her several feet backward. Through the chaos Reyna saw the girl's eyes widen in fear, but the expression was gone almost immediately. She braced her feet, and Reyna tried to call out a warning to Percy but she wasn't fast enough.

Danny thrust her arms forward, and the mass of water hurtled toward Percy, who barely managed to duck out the way. The water crashed back into the ocean, but Danny was already moving again. Her hands and arms were a blur as she threw one water-ball after another at Percy's head. The poor guy seemed to be stunned – he'd never fought against another Poseidon/Neptune half-blood before. And Danny appeared to be just as powerful as he was.

Quickly regaining his composure, Percy summoned a huge ball of water onto the deck; it shimmered and dropped huge splashes onto the wood boards. Danny released her other liquid-projectiles and concentrated all her force on pushing the form towards Percy, who was working in the opposite direction. For a moment the water-mass was at a standstill, both demigods sweating with the exertion and Reyna was about to run for help, though who exactly would be helpful at a time like this she didn't have a clue, when-

"Danna!"

Danny instantly lost her concentration, and the sphere collided with her a second later. She shook her dripping hair out of her eyes and whipped around to look at the doorway, where Alex and Molly huddled together. Behind them were the rest of the Seven, and Nico.

For a moment no one said anything, and then Molly ran forward. Danny fell to her knees, holding the little girl against her tightly. One arm drew Alex in when she came close enough, and after a few minutes Danny stood shakily to her feet and turned to face Percy.

"Who are you?" Her voice didn't hold the venom it had earlier; now it sounded cautious, like a wounded animal that was tensed to run if it had the slightly inkling of danger.

Percy's shoulders relaxed. "My name is Percy Jackson. I'm a son of Poseidon."

Danny nodded. "I figured. You look like him, you know."

"Yeah." He said awkwardly, glancing around the circle for help. Piper stepped up.

"Danny, we know you must be really scared, but we're not going to hurt you. Alex and Molly were downstairs eating. Would you like something?"

The charmspeak seemed to help, though Reyna got the impression that the daughter of Aphrodite wasn't laying it on as thick as usual. She was simply calming the situation, not tricking Danny into doing something she didn't want.

Danny seemed to be thinking, gnawing the inside of her cheek. Molly suddenly tugged on her hand.

"Danna. Pea-uh buh'r."

"They have peanut butter." Alex translated. "And goldfish. Leo and Jason made us sandwiches."

Danny's brow furrowed. "Who are Leo and Jason?"

"I'm Jason," he said, taking one step closer. "I'm a son of Jupiter. This is Leo", as he pulled Valdez out of the ranks to stand beside him, "and he's a son of Hephaestus."

Jason went on to introduce all of them to Danny (even including Frank who was groggily sitting up against the wall with Hazel's help), as well as listing their godly parentage. By the end Danny looked completely lost.

"You mean…you're _all_ demigods?"

The question, though including them all, was aimed at Percy, who nodded.

"All of us. Well, except for Coach Hedge, he's a satyr. But you'll meet him later. He acts tough, but he's really just a big softie. Just don't tell him I said that."

Danny looked like she might have laughed if she hadn't been so confused.

"What are all of you doing out here?" she asked, baffled.

"It's a really, _really_ long story. C'mon, I'll tell you over lunch." He reached one arm out to sweep the three girls back down to the mess hall, but Danny recoiled and hesitated. He caught it.

"Look, Danny," Percy said quietly, "We found you in the ocean this morning. Your sisters are getting what looks like their first decent meal in Zeus knows how long. And you need it worse than they do. I promise you, we're not the bad guys, okay?"

For several long moments Danny looked at Percy, blue eyes boring in green. Finally she sighed. "Alright. I guess I don't have a choice but to trust you for now."

A small smile twisted one corner of Percy's mouth. Reyna followed them all to the stairs, and as she left the deck she turned to glance over her shoulder.

She could have sworn she heard a soft laugh on the tangy sea breeze.

/

_**I will be honest and tell you that I was a bit disappointed with the lack of feedback from the first chapter. I am NOT asking for praise or anything like that. I'm genuinely asking for pointers, advice on how to make this story better. If you don't like this story, then let me know what I can change to improve it. I'm interested in growing as a writer, not in others stroking my ego. So please please please PLEASE review. Or PM me. Either works :) **_

_**I will take the time to thank the two readers who favorite/followed. It was the only response I got, and it was positive. So thank you oodles, **__**Ckid7**__** and **__**Fairy Tail Fanatic 4EVER.**_

_**So anyway. Hope you liked this update. Thanks again, as always, for reading!**_


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